![]() Ultimately, a sincerely held belief may not have to be rational or consistent in order to be protected by the law. The most an employer can do to contest waiver requests is to probe the consistency of employees’ beliefs – if they oppose the vaccine because they oppose the use of fetal cells in research, do they also refuse to take Tylenol, Tums and other medications developed using fetal cells? But the tactic is “rife with legal pitfalls”, Reiss said. Beliefs based on an organized religion’s teachings are protected, but so are other “sincerely held” beliefs or observances that are important to an individual, said Dorit Reiss, a law professor at UC Hastings. Leaders of fringe religious groups have been helping fuel and spread anti-vaccine fervor on social media – and amplifying the tried and tested strategy of invoking one’s personal beliefs and first amendment freedom of religion and expression to sidestep public health policies.įederal and state laws offer protections for workers who want to decline a vaccine due to their religious or philosophical beliefs, which can be broadly defined. Indeed, Pope Francis, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Orthodox Jewish rabbis and Islamic leaders in the Fiqh Council of North America have all been touting the vaccine. Ultimately, she said, it may not matter that not only public health officials but also prominent religious leaders have been encouraging people to get vaccinated. A bus driver, police officer or teacher with a vaccine exemption not only risks catching the coronavirus but also passing it on to one of the hundreds of other people they interact with – especially immunocompromised people who are at greater risk of catching the virus even if they are vaccinated.īecause laws protecting religious or philosophical objections offer broad leeway for those seeking waivers, amid rampant misinformation about the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine, Garcia said she worried about how many people will exploit the waivers. “Even when you have a few individuals that are refusing or hesitating to take the vaccine, in large cities like San Francisco that can have huge public health implications,” said Lorena Garcia, an associate professor of epidemiology at the UC Davis School of Medicine. View image in fullscreen Pastor Greg Fairrington of Destiny Christian church. ![]() The Christian legal advocacy group Liberty Counsel offers letter templates to claim a religious exemption, as well. Pastor Greg Fairrington of Destiny Christian church, who has organized protests at the state capitol against the state’s vaccine requirements for school children, healthcare workers and first responders, has held that he is not anti-vaccine, but “the vaccine poses a morally compromising situation for many people of faith”. In Rocklin, California – just north-east of the state capital, Sacramento – a megachurch pastor has been offering religious exemption letters to all who want them. In San Francisco, some 800 city workers – including police officers and firefighters – have asked for exemptions, though the city has yet to approve a single request.Īs state and city officials increasingly enforce strict mandates, a cottage industry of anti-vaccine and religious groups has cropped up to help people dodge requirements. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles fire department fielded more than 450 requests for exemptions, while a quarter of the Beverly Hills fire department requested exemptions. Last week, teachers at a school district in Los Angeles who were denied religious exemptions demonstrated outside the headquarters. ![]() ![]() In rural northern California and conservative patches of the south, parents picketed against the public health measures on Monday, insisting that they wouldn’t “co-parent with the government”. Many parents and even some teachers have raised opposition to the mandates, with walkouts and protests already taking place across the state. And lawyers and legal experts are bracing for a deluge of complaints over the blurry lines that define “sincerely held” objections to the vaccine. ![]() Epidemiologists are concerned that the loophole will embolden the vaccine-hesitant to evade requirements and undermine the state’s progress against the pandemic. ![]()
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